Pets in the Family

We love our sweet little pup very much.  My hubby still fondly remembers our old golden retriever we welcomed apart of the family for 15 years, and still refers to when we had a "real dog."  Pup has grown on him too after three years.  Our problem is that pup really thinks he is more than a pet, that he has a distinct role in the family pecking order, and that he should dictate how the flow of the day goes.  If we break routine, we get a thorough tongue lashing. When he is ready to retire for the night, he gets cranky, doing that odd snorty-sneezy thing dogs do, until we all go to bed, or a least I go to bed. Every morning, he hops up in my daughters bed for a morning snuggle, just enough to make sure she is awake, then he hops down to be let outside. When I come home from work, usually trying to make a bee line for the bathroom after an hour commute, he waits, whining outside the bathroom door, for his pet and snuggle from me. He believes I should be the designated "poo" walker, and if someone else takes him, but I am home, I get bawled out by him once he is back. He demands about 30 minute of rough play time with my hubby each night, and will snub others trying to play, until he feels he's gotten enough of his masters attention.

We have an interesting dynamic right now with pup and "pig".  In the five years between the golden passing away, and bringing pup home, DD#2 had a guinea pig, a sweet little guy that was almost puppy like in his character, but gentile, and social, and a nice companion for her.  He would walk around on a towel while she did home work, or read, or watched TV.  When we brought pup home, the little dog just became acclimated right away to the guinea pig-the pet that was here first.  Sadly, we lost that little guy right after Christmas.  He was about the age they are expected to live, but it was a sad loss for all of us, pup included.  He would sit in the empty cage spot, and looked very forlorn.  Months went by, and pup seemed to move on. 

In August, DD#2 got a new pet guinea pig. We just refer to him as "pig".  Pig is not like the last guy.  This one is anxious, wiry, and even more social, calling for attention when he hears us up in the morning, and wants to run when he is out of his habitat.  He likes to run at pup.  He likes to try and climb on pup. It is very funny to watch.  Pup is very gentle, but he gives us all looks like, "who let this thing in here?"  When we feed the guinea pig, we get a little bark from pup to ensure we don't forget him.  If we give pig a piece of celery, or other veggie treat, pup immediately runs to the cupboard his treats are in. This is behavior he never did with the old guinea pig. 

There is some big time pet jealousy going on. However, we have little signs pig might be gaining acceptance.  Tonight, pup got a treat first, then ran over to the guinea pig cage perhaps to remind us to get something for pig too.  Maybe it was just to gloat.

Making the Most of Three Day Weekend

I have been at my company a lot of years and we have a good vacation policy, so the combination means I have quite an accrual of hours banked up.  Unfortunately, my work load has been such that taking more than the odd day off every now and then has meant I am often at the point of maxing out further accrual. Since I have taken so little time off, I need to take a vacation day a pay period or technically I lose the benefit, so I will be trying to get some three day weekends in between now and the week of Christmas.  I might trade for a Thursday as that is when hubby has his day off as he works Saturdays. Today is a teacher workshop day, so no school.  With both daughters home, I was able to clear my calendar in the office.  I brought work home, but that's another issue. .

It's gray and chilly today-typical Minnesota November, but I got a mess of errands done this morning, and in between loads of laundry, am helping my daughter decide what to purge before her move next week.  She baked a double batch of chocolate chip cookies this morning as well, half to take along for her last weekend on the film set. In my last blog, I did a little brainstorming of ways to fight the urge to stay cooped up each night, now that the daylight is so fleeting.  A few things are in motion.  Eating the remaining cookies is not on the agenda.

The moonlight walk wasn't with a friend, but I did take pup for an extra long one last night.  It was already getting a little cloudy, so the moonlight was dim, and not the type that lights up the walking path.  We went an extra few paths and made it a pretty good walk even so.  

I did a good browse of the community ed calendar.  I was disappointed in the contents this time for my interests.  There were lots of yoga, zumba,  and computer classes, of which i should probably be more interested in. but very little crafts and cooking, more what I had in mind.  there is  lefse making class on the 20th, but I have a conflict. I was intrigued with the Over 50 offering of a scotch tasting class, but i am  "under age."  I haven't had that apply to me in 30 years when it comes to having a libation.  It looks like no community ed class then for the near future, but, another catalog starts in January.  It did serve as a reminder to pick up my walking  pin, which for a $15 fee, gives use of the high school field house walking track, much appreciated in the height of winter.

With the extra day off, I'll continue to knock  lot of things of my to do list, today, and put Saturday and Sunday to less mundane  use.  DD#2 folded a load of towels last night, without request, and even gathered up a load of jeans and sweatshirts, and did a load of clothes as well.  I topped off groceries, hopefully the bulk needed for the rest of the month, minus some specif Thanksgiving purchases, and she also put away all the things in the bag.  She might be trying to butter me up for something, but so far, nothing has been asked for.  While I'm catching up on blogs, and we're between laundry loads, She was doing some violin practice, so I've been treated to a a little concert.  She has been playing for three years now, and it is a delight to hear how she has progressed, though she is critical of her skills. 

I popped into the dollar store near my house, not really for anything, but to browse and think ahead to items that are cheap but enhance the holidays.  I picked up some greeting cards, a deal at 2 for $1.00, and I was ahead of the game so they weren't picked over.  I found some cute  stretchy gloves to have extras for purses and the car glove box, and some thin, non-pulling, ribbon type, head bands for DD#2 for basketball season. They have to be the soft ones-no plastic or metal at all. The stretch fabric kind can be quite pricey when you consider how many are lost in a season so at 6 for $1.00, this was  bargain. 

The woman ahead of me was buying an assortment of star shaped bric-a-brac, for what she said was going to be an awards night theme birthday party for her 12 year old daughter.  The last one, she said, so decided to go all out.  she had a bunch of star shaped helium balloons, star candy dishes, and glitter covered star twinkly lights as some of the décor items.  Not trying to be nosy, but heard her total was under $20, so not too bad considering what the party stores would have charged her. She mentioned you can get directions for various party ideas on-line, which include games, recipes, activities, and story lines if you want to throw some role play into the event.  Maybe if i am so bold to have impromptu guests over, I an do a quick internet browse and make it a theme night. Yeah, probably not. 

I need to get back to task -load number three for today will be done soon, and I hope we are the final purging stage.  It would be good to get the usable items out of the house and to the Goodwill or Family Services donation center yet this afternoon. Do you have fun or productive plans for the weekend?  We have wine club tonight, and I am looking forward to some new reds to try.  Have a fabulous weekend.

Is There a Lost and Found for Motivation?

It's gone.  i know i had it earlier in the week and am hoping I just misplaced it.  I'm talking about that most valuable of intangibles, motivation.  I learned taking a Thursday off work, and then trying to reengage on Friday is not a great idea.  Of course I did things-the things that had to be done.  I had meetings at 8:15, 9:30, 11:00, 2:00, and lastly, at 3:30. I participated fully, but if I stop to think about what I actually accomplished, very little.  I hope those I met with got more out of the day than I did.  

Tomorrow though is the weekend, time for a a good hunt and search and with luck, motivation will be hanging out on a shelf somewhere.  The weather is supposed to be cold and gray, just like today.  Perhaps that might be where my motivation was hiding. After the glorious day of warmth and sun yesterday, there was a  dull, cold, colorless feeling in the air today.  I usually don't mind a gray day-good for reading, and thinking, and coming up with ideas.  Today though, the clouds just covered up needed energy. Tomorrow though, I'm going to put the weather to my favor and set the alarm, even though it is a weekend, and not rely on my natural clock to wake me up.  I think pup and I will drive down to the Mississippi River walking trails, or to one of the rural nature centers, and get an extra long walk in.  I'm going to tackle some purging of closets, and perhaps follow my daughters lead, and haul some used books and movies to a second hand shop and see if I can generate a little cash.  

Here is my motivational check list for tomorrow:

• Wake up early; do not linger in bed and waste away precious daylight
• Walk a long time, slow and patient and let pup sniff away
• Purge at least one shelf, cupboard, or closet-determine if for sale, donation or throw
• Clean and organize pantry, fridge, and freezer-there is something causing an odd smell somewhere
• Take a picture of my food waste so I hold my self accountable next time to use what we have
• Bake!!  
• Wash bedding and get it out on the line so I can sleep with sweet smells of fall
• Open a bottle of red, and marvel at all I've accomplished

What about you?  How do you start your weekends, and how do you decide what to tackle first?

Early Fall in the River valley

Today is the first full day of fall.  We have had some quite chilly mornings, mixed with wonderful sun, slowly heating up the air.  It was a little hazardous vision wise on my drive to work but I was stopped and able to take a couple quick photos of the fog coming off the Mississippi.  Pardon the dash board.  I could live year round in these kind of temperatures.  The fog has such allure, particularly seeing it over a river when you can't tell where the land, water, or sky meet. 

I was loaded, over loaded in fact at work, so couldn't so much as get a walk around the building.  I made up for it at home, and Kota, my darling dog, even scored two walks-one before dinner, and a second just a bit ago, in the dark.    I got dinner started, some simple rice, beans, and cheese with tortilla, and headed for walk one. Once back, the girls and I went to town on the makeshift tex-mex, eating out on the deck rather than inside.  I polished off the remaining premixed margarita's, hiding in my fridge for just such a dinner happy hour.  Walk two required a flashlight as there wasn't so much as a star to help guide us on the path. 

We met loads of other dogs and owners both times. It is so hard keeping indoors on these warmer fall nights in Minnesota.  We are anticipating another 80 degree high on Wednesday, but know we must brace for the 30-40 degree swing south, potentially coming in the same week. While I raved about my dream to relocate to the UK, this is the season, and kind of weather, that draws folks into my part of Minnesota.  Sadly, after fall lures them in, winter freezes the feet to the ground.  I'm a long way from retirement, but I think I might have a seasonal living plan for when I do.  Minnesota gets dibs on September -early November.  


Just a foggy haze on the other side of the bridge



You can see the fog rising up from the river

I want to thank all of you that have given my site a read or two.  On Sunday I hit my first milestone and went over 1,000 page views.  Now granted, I probably might be a fair share of those even with trying to not track my own.  While I read blogs that have thousands of views a day,  sharing my ideas and thoughts with any of you readers has been a wonderful outlet for the random things going through my head.  Trying to adjust to a new framework, and see life with a realistic, but open minded lens to other perspectives and writing about it has been more difficult than I thought.  Trying to not sound whiny, insensitive, dull, or self indulgent is a challenge.  I hope my posts get better, lighter, and are infused with more fun.  As I move into the next phase, I intend to bring in a little content with some research behind it.  Comments and ideas are appreciated.  For those who found me, and came back more than once, and those that did so from outside the US, let me know what's working, or what maybe isn't.  Thanks again.